Man denied lottery millions because winning ticket was printed just seven seconds late

Joel Ifergan missed out on lottery millions after the court rejected his appeal TVA Nouvelles

A Canadian man has been denied a multi-million jackpot because his 'winning' lottery ticket was printed seven seconds after the deadline.

Joel Ifergan, an accountant from Quebec, would have won half of a C$27 million lottery jackpot, but was denied the prize because the second ticket he purchased was printed moments after the purchase deadline

Ifergan, who lodged an appeal in a bid to claim the money, finally had it rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada yesterday after a seven-years legal battle.

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The anguishing tale begins in May 2008, when Ifergan went to a local convenience store to purchase two tickets for that night's "Lotto Super 7" drawing. According to a court summary, the checkout assistant told him to hurry before the 9pm deadline, which was fast-approaching.

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When they began the transaction, the clock on the lottery terminal read 8:59 pm, but the second, winning, ticket was printed eight seconds later, seven seconds after the deadline, making it technically only eligible for the following week's drawing.

The jackpot was awarded to another winner, and Ifergan sued Loto-Quebec for the processing hold-up, only to go through the pain of missing out on the money yet again seven years later.